Paralyzed patients or patients who have impaired consciousness or impaired sensations such as those patients who are in intensive care, or those patients who are unable to turn themselves or who for some reason are turned only infrequently day and night, often develop difficult to heal sores or ulcers on their heels due to unremitting pressure on the heel. Ulcers also frequently develop on the outside margin of the foot in those same patients described above since the foot tends to flop over onto its outside margin thereby creating pressure on the outside margin of the foot. Perhaps the most freqently used procedure to prevent such sores is to place fleece-lined boots or layers of foam in the form of boots and to tape, belt or otherwise secure the same to the patient's feet. However, all available boots are either: (a) insecure and tend to shift position or come off during the night; (b) poorly designed so that maximum padding is not positioned where maximum protection is needed; (c) excessively bulky so that the patient can only turn or be turned with difficulty due to the blankets and sheets becoming entangled thereby obstructing movement; (d) needlessly expensive because of design characteristics; or (e) difficult to remove or apply with accuracy and simplicity with the result that errors and pressure sores easily occur.
Secondly, in cases of fractures of the lower leg or foot, a boot cast or long leg cast is usually required. Such cast must be applied after first wrapping padding around the leg and foot with care being taken to apply additional turns of padding in those areas where pressure from the cast is known to endanger the skin or to endanger the patient by putting pressure on an important nerve with a consequent threat of paralysis resulting in foot drop.
Thirdly, following skin grafting of a leg or foot, a carefully constructed padded dressing is required which will exert exactly the desired pressure over the graft yet protect the graft from the patient's creating excessive pressure on the graft simply by the patient turning his body weight upon the graft area.
Fourthly, patients who have impaired circulation in the lower extremities often require an inexpensive exchangeable dressing for use beneath elastic support wraps such as Ace bandages or flexible inelastic support wraps such as Unna boots. This category includes patients who are in need of a support wrap to permit ambulation without the danger of skin breakdown thereby forming a vascular ulcer. This category also includes patients with recent skin grafts complicated by delayed healing secondary to poor blood supply to the graft area.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved foam boot of one-piece construction.
A further object of the invention is to provide a foam boot for use on medical patients wherein the back of the heel, the outer margin of the foot and heel, and the top of the foot are provided with an increased thickness to prevent open sores from forming regardless of the position which the patient finds himself turned or is forced to rest.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a wrap-around boot with overlapping anterior margins, the anterior edge portions of which are beveled to prevent undesirable bulging and consequent pressure points by the material itself.
Still another object of the foam boot of this invention is to provide a boot which may be cut off at either the upper end such as knee level or crotch level or at the forward (toe) end thereof to accommodate various sizes of patients or various applications.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which does not have a seam extending upwardly on the back thereof or on the side of the heel or on the side of the foot thereby avoiding the creation of pressure in those areas where pressure must be most carefully avoided.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which can be used as a simple, swift and efficient burn dressing in the event of mass casualties.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which can be swiftly modified to fit any adult sized foot or length or leg or girth of leg.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which will serve as an ideal and inexpensive simplified padding for use beneath: (1) elastic wraps; (2) flexible but inelastic wraps; and (3) rigid plaster casts or splints.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which is economical of manufacture and thus inexpensive to stockpile in anticipation of national emergencies such as warfare.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a foam boot which is economical of manufacture so that it is inexpensive enough to be disposable in the event of soiling which necessarily necessitates frequent replacement or changing.